Four freshmen named as candidates for Julius Erving Award

On Tuesday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the 20 candidates for the 2016 Julius Erving Award, the annual honor given out to the best small forward in college basketball.

Arizona freshman Stanley Johnson received the inaugural award last year. This season, four freshmen -- Cal's Jaylen Brown, Duke's Brandon Ingram, LSU's Ben Simmons and Texas A&M's D.J. Hogg -- made the watch list.

Here's the full list of candidates:

Jaylen Brown, Cal

Daniel Hamilton, UConn

Rodney Purvis, UConn

Brandon Ingram, Duke

John Brown, High Point

Troy Williams, Indiana

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kansas

Wayne Selden, Kansas

Alex Poythress, Kentucky

Damion Lee, Louisville

Ben Simmons, LSU

Jake Layman, Maryland

Denzel Valentine, Michigan State

Justin Jackson, North Carolina

DeAndre Bembry, Saint Joseph's

Malik Pope, San Diego State

Michael Gbinije, Syracuse

D.J. Hogg, Texas A&M

Brandon Taylor, Utah

Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin

Five finalists will be named in March. A winner will be selected on April 8.